Escobar

This season of “Love Island USA” has lost yet another contestant after their past use of a racial slur resurfaced online: Cierra Ortega left the villa and will not return.

“Love Island USA” narrator Iain Stirling announced during the Sunday episode that Ortega, 25, had departed the hit dating competition series to deal with “a personal situation.” Though he did not provide additional details about her exit, Ortega recently landed in hot water for her repeated use of a slur for Chinese people — and often Asian people in general — after social media posts resurfaced online.

In an Instagram story from 2023 that made the rounds on Reddit and X, Ortega used the slur as she explained her Botox procedures, writing, “I love getting a mini brow lift to open up my eyes and get that snatched look.”

Another post that raised flags among critics was a 2020 TikTok video where Ortega uses a version of the slur to describe her smile in an Instagram caption. “Love Island USA” streamer Peacock and parent company NBCUniversal did not comment to The Times about the terms of Ortega’s exit, but the reality star’s parents spoke out online about “one of the most painful weeks of our lives.”

In a lengthy statement shared to Ortega’s Instagram story Sunday evening, her parents wrote, “We’ve seen the posts, the headlines, the hurt and the hate.” While acknowledging the outcry and upset around the resurfaced posts, Ortega’s parents alleged that their daughter has also been subject to online hate including threats and “cruel messages.” Ortega’s family, friends and supporters have been caught in the crossfire, they wrote: “it’s heartbreaking.”

The statement added: “It’s uncalled for. And no one deserves that kind of hate, no matter what mistake they’ve made.”

The missive also confirmed that “Cierra is not in the villa” and had yet to “process any of this or speak for herself.” Confident that Ortega will “face this with honesty, growth and grace,” her parents wrote that the reality TV personality will take accountability on her own terms.

Ortega left “Love Island” a month after contestant Yulissa Escobar faced similar backlash. Escobar was out by the season’s second episode amid social media outcry over her use of a slur for Black people. Video posted on Reddit and TMZ showed Escobar using the slur during a podcast conversation. Escobar apologized for using the slur, writing in a statement that she “used it ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it.”

Until Ortega breaks her silence on the controversy, her parents said they have a request for supporters and critics alike: “We’re simply asking for compassion. For patience. For basic human decency.”

The “Love Island USA” Season 7 finale will air Sunday on Peacock.

The parent organization of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s labor union has doubled down on allegations that the union’s top official failed to properly document hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card transactions.

The International Assn. of Fire Fighters, which oversees the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, suspended President Freddy Escobar and two other union officials last month over “serious problems” with missing receipts identified in a wide-ranging audit going back to 2018.

Auditors reexamined their findings after Escobar showed up to UFLAC headquarters last month — news cameras in tow — with a thumb drive and stacks of photocopied receipts that he claimed would clear him.

In a letter last week reviewed by The Times, the IAFF’s auditors concluded that even with the new materials, Escobar failed to properly document more than $212,000 worth of credit card expenses. They said they were not provided full access to UFLAC’s internal expense system for their first report and said Escobar engaged in a “flurry of activity” to reconcile the transactions in recent months. In the months after auditors left UFLAC’s offices in December 2024, Escobar directed his staff by email to look for missing receipts, according to the letter.

“Escobar — with the assistance of UFLAC staff — worked feverishly to reconcile some of his past credit card expenditures,” IAFF General President Edward Kelly and General Secretary Treasurer Frank Líma said in a note this week to the local union’s members.

Of the 1,974 Escobar credit card transactions auditors recently reviewed, totaling $312,985, only 889, or $100,824 worth, were fully documented with receipts and a business purpose, the auditors’ letter said.

The initial audit reviewed 1,957 of those transactions, which amounted to $311,498, and found that only 428, or $45,635, were properly documented.

“Our conclusions set forth in our May 1, 2025 audit report remain the same,” the auditors wrote in the letter. “It appears that Escobar repeatedly failed to comply with his fiduciary duties and obligations, and proper controls were not in place for compliance with state and federal laws and regulations and UFLAC policies on expense reimbursements and expenditure of UFLAC funds due to lack of receipts and documentation of business purpose.”

Neither Escobar nor his attorney immediately provided comment.

The initial audit had also found that two other UFLAC officials — former Secretary Adam Walker and former Treasurer Domingo Albarran Jr. — together made more than $530,000 in credit card transactions with no receipts or partial documentation.

Auditors did not reexamine those findings in the new report.

Under UFLAC policy, receipts are required for all credit card expenditures, along with an explanation of the expense, including the names of those present and the business reason.

Vice Presidents Chuong Ho and Doug Coates also were suspended and accused of breaching their fiduciary duties in “failing to enforce UFLAC policy.”

After the audit, the IAFF appointed a conservator, John Bagala, to take over the union and “restore responsible financial stewardship and guarantee the fulfillment of UFLAC’s legitimate objectives.”

Bagala is a state representative for the IAFF and president of Marin Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 1775, which represents firefighters in Marin County.

In a statement Thursday, IAFF spokesperson Ryan Heffernan said the conservatorship is focused on implementing safeguards to prevent future financial mismanagement.

“During this temporary conservatorship, the IAFF remains focused on meeting members’ critical needs and protecting their hard-earned dues money,” he said.

Want to succeed in reality show love? It might be best to keep your public life free of racial slurs.

“Love Island USA” contestant Yulissa Escobar, whose use of the N-word on a couple of podcasts surfaced over the weekend before the show’s rocky premiere Tuesday, was there and then gone in a heartbeat. A mere blip in love-competition TV’s continuum of smokin’ hot contestants.

She used the N-word casually and naturally in conversation, per video posted on Reddit and TMZ. She did not appear to be using it with disparaging intent — but the word is still racist on its face.

“They’re gonna get cancelled so bad and not like I care but they should be protecting them from mass cancellation like this by not casting them in the first place,” one Reddit user said.

Plus, Escobar had been partnered on the show with contestant Ace Greene, who is Black. Here’s how that selection went, according to Vulture: “The last to choose is Yulissa. I get the sense that someone once called her a ‘real firecracker’ and she’s been trying to live up to that ever since. She has clearly been waiting for an opportunity to cause trouble, so she aims her lips directly at Ace and they lock in. This goes on for a while.”

Before “Love Island USA” even premiered, fans and haters on social media were making plans to vote Escobar off as fast as they could. But the show beat them to it.

“Welcome back to ‘Love Island USA,’” narrator Iain Stirling said 18 minutes into the second episode of Season 7, which streamed Wednesday. “Yulissa has left the villa.” No other details were given.

“I can confirm Yulissa has left the villa,” a representative of the show told The Times on Thursday. No other details were given there either.

So viewers are left to connect the dots on their own — but seriously, those are some pretty huge, flashing-neon dots. Nobody needs that kind of attention, right? At least nobody in the reality TV business does.

The process to audition for “Love Island USA” seems fairly intense, with applicants asked off the bat for their social media usernames and quizzed as to whether they have an OnlyFans page or have ever done porn (sorry, they call it “Adult Film”).

The casting company also wants to know whether prospects have ever cheated on anyone, the location and meaning of any tattoos, whether they have any celebrity friends and whether their parents are still together.

There’s also this: “Is there any other information we should be made aware of concerning your application (including anything in your past that may attract negative press or publicity)? If YES, please provide details.”

Looks as if Escobar didn’t think her language was going to elicit negative publicity? But hey, Greene — who does have tattoos! — is now free to find fresh talent from among his remaining cast members.

As for that rocky premiere, “Love Island USA” fans got heated Tuesday when streamer Peacock posted on social media one minute after the planned showtime, “WE GOT A TEXT! Tonight’s episode will be slightly delayed. But it is worth the wait … Stay tuned!”

A full 40 minutes later, Season 7 got underway.